Former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar, while criticising Prime Minister Imran Khan for naming United States in the move to oust his government, said that he has sabotaged US-Pakistan relations to save his government.
Talking to a news channel on Thursday night, Hina said that it was not only the PPP government’s decision, but the overall state policy on drone attacks was pretty clear.
“Thirty years from now, no one will remember who Imran Khan was,” she said. “People will only remember that there was a prime minister who sabotaged the US-Pakistan relations to save his government.”
Hina went on to say that the biggest problem with PM Imran is that he hurts the cause of Pakistan while attempting to hurt his opponents.
She said that once a person is appointed to the office of the prime minister, he has to assume certain responsibilities.
“I am really angry and upset over the way PM Imran behaved irresponsibly,” she said.
“This was Pakistan’s internal cable which the premier was waving before the public, calling it a letter.”
She said it is a routine exercise for ambassadors to send diplomatic cables to their countries.
“Whenever there is a message or an important matter, the ambassador sends the diplomatic cable to the head of the government,” she added.
The former foreign minister added that using a diplomatic cable to one’s own advantage and calling it a conspiracy against the prime minister [by foreign powers] is a “dangerous stand”.
Hina criticised PM Imran for saying that the cable had arrived even before the opposition had tabled the no-confidence motion to oust him from office.
“We have ambassadors of many countries living in Pakistan who send diplomatic cables detailing the country’s situation to their capitals on a daily basis,” she continued.
She said that the entire world was aware that the Opposition in Pakistan considering a no-trust motion against the premier.
Responding to the prime minister’s comments about the former governments that they had remained silent on the issue of US drone attacks in Pakistan, Hina said that during its tenure, the PPP government had “consistently condemned the drone attacks in the strongest possible manner.”
The ex-FM said that to register its condemnation, the PPP government had even invited the United Nations’ special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions to Pakistan.
“The issue of drone strikes has ended in this region since the war is over now but when we were in power, it was quite the trend here,” she said.
She asserted that during that time, any prime minister — even if it were to be Imran Khan — would have been a part of the United States’ drone policy.
“It is very easy for Imran Khan to continually lie about the tenures of other political leaders,” she said.
